742 research outputs found
POSTNATAL BRAIN DYSMORPHOLOGY INDUCED BY PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE: A PRECLINICAL MRI STUDY
poster abstractBrain dysmorphology is one of the most critical features of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). This study was designed to use high resolution preclinical MRI system to compare the brain structures between alcohol exposed C57BL/6 mice with control. The objective is to examine how alcohol affects a dose- and timing-dependent brain dysmorphology during development comparable to that of human FASD. Three treated groups, ALC (pre- and pregnancy alcohol with 4.2 % (v/v) alcohol liquid), PF (pre alcohol and a calorically matched liquid pregnancy diet), and CHOW (ad lib chow/water), were examined. Mouse heads were imaged using 9.4T preclinical MRI system with 3D gradient echo (GRE) sequence to acquire volumetric images with voxel size as low as 40 microns. Whole brain, olfactory bulbs, cortex, hypothalamus, and cerebellum were segmented and the volumes were calculated. Data was examined by ANOVA followed with paired comparison between treatment groups to test the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure. ALC group had shown consistently smaller mean volumes of difference brain regions than the other two groups. Volume of total brain, olfactory bulbs and cerebellum were observed to be significantly different for ALC compared to PF pups. This indicated that prenatal alcohol exposure caused retarded fetal brain development. Comparing PF with CHOW pups, only cerebellum volume was observed to be significantly different. For cortex volume, no significant difference was shown for any pairwise comparison. These results suggest that alcohol effect contribute to brain dysmorphology, and match with our previous craniofacial dysmorphology study. This could be important to assist in the understanding of clinical variants of human FASD patients in brain dysmorphology
TrustedPals: Secure Multiparty Computation Implemented with Smart Cards
We study the problem of Secure Multi-party Computation (SMC) in a model where individual processes contain a tamper-proof security module, and introduce the TrustedPals framework, an efficient smart card based implementation of SMC for any number of participating entities in such a model. Security modules can be trusted by other processes and can establish secure channels between each other. However, their availability is restricted by their host, that is, a corrupted party can stop the computation of its own security module as well as drop any message sent by or to its security module. We show that in this model SMC can be implemented by reducing it to a fault-tolerance problem at the level of security modules. Since the critical part of the computation can be executed locally on the smart card, we can compute any function securely with a protocol complexity which is polynomial only in the number of processes (that is, the complexity does not depend on the function which is computed), in contrast to previous approaches
Systematic Cu-63 NQR studies of the stripe phase in La(1.6-x)Nd(0.4)Sr(x)CuO(4) for 0.07 <= x <= 0.25
We demonstrate that the integrated intensity of Cu-63 nuclear quadrupole
resonance (NQR) in La(1.6-x)Nd(0.4)Sr(x)CuO(4) decreases dramatically below the
charge-stripe ordering temperature T(charge). Comparison with neutron and X-ray
scattering indicates that the wipeout fraction F(T) (i.e. the missing fraction
of the integrated intensity of the NQR signal) represents the charge-stripe
order parameter. The systematic study reveals bulk charge-stripe order
throughout the superconducting region 0.07 <= x <= 0.25. As a function of the
reduced temperature t = T/T(charge), the temperature dependence of F(t) is
sharpest for the hole concentration x=1/8, indicating that x=1/8 is the optimum
concentration for stripe formation.Comment: 10 pages of text and captions, 11 figures in postscript. Final
version, with new data in Fig.
Exact diagonalization of the generalized supersymmetric t-J model with boundaries
We study the generalized supersymmetric model with boundaries in three
different gradings: FFB, BFF and FBF. Starting from the trigonometric R-matrix,
and in the framework of the graded quantum inverse scattering method (QISM), we
solve the eigenvalue problems for the supersymmetric model. A detailed
calculations are presented to obtain the eigenvalues and Bethe ansatz equations
of the supersymmetric model with boundaries in three different
backgrounds.Comment: Latex file, 32 page
The generalized second law for the interacting generalized Chaplygin gas model
We investigate the validity of the generalized second law (GSL) of
gravitational thermodynamics in a non-flat FRW universe containing the
interacting generalized Chaplygin gas with the baryonic matter. The dynamical
apparent horizon is assumed to be the boundary of the universe. We show that
for the interacting generalized Chaplygin gas as a unified candidate for dark
matter (DM) and dark energy (DE), the equation of state parameter can cross the
phantom divide. We also present that for the selected model under thermal
equilibrium with the Hawking radiation, the GSL is always satisfied throughout
the history of the universe for any spatial curvature, independently of the
equation of state of the interacting generalized Chaplygin gas model.Comment: 8 page
A Model for the Development of the Rhizobial and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses in Legumes and Its Use to Understand the Roles of Ethylene in the Establishment of these two Symbioses
We propose a model depicting the development of nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhizae. Both processes are dissected into many steps, using Pisum sativum L. nodulation mutants as a guideline. For nodulation, we distinguish two main developmental programs, one epidermal and one cortical. Whereas Nod factors alone affect the cortical program, bacteria are required to trigger the epidermal events. We propose that the two programs of the rhizobial symbiosis evolved separately and that, over time, they came to function together. The distinction between these two programs does not exist for arbuscular mycorrhizae development despite events occurring in both root tissues. Mutations that affect both symbioses are restricted to the epidermal program. We propose here sites of action and potential roles for ethylene during the formation of the two symbioses with a specific hypothesis for nodule organogenesis. Assuming the epidermis does not make ethylene, the microsymbionts probably first encounter a regulatory level of ethylene at the epidermisâoutermost cortical cell layer interface. Depending on the hormone concentrations there, infection will either progress or be blocked. In the former case, ethylene affects the cortex cytoskeleton, allowing reorganization that facilitates infection; in the latter case, ethylene acts on several enzymes that interfere with infection thread growth, causing it to abort. Throughout this review, the difficulty of generalizing the roles of ethylene is emphasized and numerous examples are given to demonstrate the diversity that exists in plants
Interplay of Electron-Phonon Interaction and Electron Correlation in High Temperature Superconductivity
We study the electron-phonon interaction in the strongly correlated
superconducting cuprates. Two types of the electron-phonon interactions are
introduced in the model; the diagonal and off-diagonal interactions which
modify the formation energy of the Zhang-Rice singlet and its transfer
integral, respectively. The characteristic phonon-momentum and
electron-momentum dependence resulted from the off-diagonal coupling
can explain a variety of experiments. The vertex correction for the
electron-phonon interaction is formulated in the SU(2) slave-boson theory by
taking into account the collective modes in the superconducting ground states.
It is shown that the vertex correction enhances the attractive potential for
the d-wave paring mediated by phonon with around
which corresponds to the half-breathing mode of the oxygen
motion.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure
Stability of metallic stripes in the extended one-band Hubbard model
Based on an unrestricted Gutzwiller approximation (GA) we investigate the
stripe orientation and periodicity in an extended one-band Hubbard model. A
negative ratio between next-nearest and nearest neighbor hopping t'/t, as
appropriate for cuprates, favors partially filled (metallic) stripes for both
vertical and diagonal configurations. At around optimal doping diagonal
stripes, site centered (SC) and bond centered (BC) vertical stripes become
degenerate suggesting strong lateral and orientational fluctuations. We find
that within the GA the resulting phase diagram is in agreement with experiment
whereas it is not in the Hartree-Fock approximation due to a strong
overestimation of the stripe filling. Results are in agreement with previous
calculations within the three-band Hubbard model but with the role of SC and BC
stripes interchanged.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Direct Measurements of the Branching Fractions for and and Determinations of the Form Factors and
The absolute branching fractions for the decays and
are determined using singly
tagged sample from the data collected around 3.773 GeV with the
BES-II detector at the BEPC. In the system recoiling against the singly tagged
meson, events for and events for decays are observed. Those yield
the absolute branching fractions to be and . The
vector form factors are determined to be
and . The ratio of the two form
factors is measured to be .Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Measurements of J/psi Decays into 2(pi+pi-)eta and 3(pi+pi-)eta
Based on a sample of 5.8X 10^7 J/psi events taken with the BESII detector,
the branching fractions of J/psi--> 2(pi+pi-)eta and J/psi-->3(pi+pi-)eta are
measured for the first time to be (2.26+-0.08+-0.27)X10^{-3} and
(7.24+-0.96+-1.11)X10^{-4}, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
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